Westbrook walks off when asked about last time Thunder missed playoffs

As the Thunder prepare to host James Harden and the Rockets on Tuesday night, they find themselves in a tough fight for playoff positioning.

Entering play on March 6, the Thunder find themselves tied in the loss column with the ninth-seeded Clippers, but only trailing the third-seeded Trail Blazers by 1.5 games in the standings.

With just 16 games remaining in the season after today, it’s possible for Oklahoma City to finish as highly as third in the conference, but to also miss the playoffs.

It’s truly appropriate to say that every game matters.

After shootaround on Tuesday, in the hours before the Thunder play host to the Rockets, Westbrook was asked whether there were any lessons from the 2014-15 playoffs that he could apply to this year’s chase.

He clearly wasn’t in the mood.

Russ got asked about what he learned during the 2014-15 playoff race that he can apply in 2018: “What year is this? What year is this?” pic.twitter.com/4cPo37097n

When the reporter tried to clarify his question and get some sort of substantive response from Westbrook, he interrupted the question and again asked his own, rhetorically.

“What year is this?”

When the reporter responded, Westbrook answered with “perfect,” and then walked away.

In case you’re wondering why the 2014-15 playoff race might be a touchy subject, that was the last time the Thunder missed the playoffs. The previous season, they lost to the eventual NBA Champion Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.

Despite the loss, most people still saw the Thunder as a legitimate contender in the Western Conference, but the following season, injuries limited Kevin Durant to just 27 games. Westbrook did all he could to get the Thunder to the postseason, but they finished the season 45-37.

The Pelicans finished the season with the same record, but were awarded the final seed over the Thunder because the Pelicans won the season series against Oklahoma City, 3-1.

Success

Whoa!

Moke Hamilton

Moke Hamilton is the Editor and Lead Writer for OKC Thunder Wire. Based in New York City, Moke is entering his seventh season covering the NBA and previously worked for Turner Sports and NBC Universal prior to joining the USA Today Sports Media Group. He can be heard on the air at 98.7FM ESPN New York where he resides as a studio contributor and also currently serves as a Deputy Editor for BasketballInsiders.com.